Wednesday, February 10, 2010

God Turns from Punishing-- God's Character 7

7. Al-ra’a-

Literally “above evil” but translated as “relents from evil”.

This characteristic is not found directly in Exodus 34, but in other passages that quote this creed, such as Joel 2:13. As it says in Numbers 23, God does not change his mind—except in one circumstance. God changes his mind about judgment. Just like God didn’t destroy Nineveh in Jonah, and He repented of destroying the Israelites in Exodus 32—even though in both cases He said he would destroy them. God will never change his mind from His promise of mercy, but, if given an opportunity, He will turn away from punishing.

This primarily happens—although not exclusively—by the one who is going to be punished repenting of their sin. Just as it says in Ezekiel 18 and Jeremiah 18:8, God will not punish the one or the nation that changes their mind about their sin.

Interestingly enough, in Exodus 34, God relents from evil just on Moses' word, not necessarily because of Israel's repentance, for God knows that Israel isn't especially good at repenting. It all gives the impression that God uses punishment as the last resort.

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